Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight!
Chapter 209: ’Suspicious Village’

Chapter 209: ’Suspicious Village’

Heinz grabbed Florian’s arm without a word, pulling him along with an ease that was almost careless. It wasn’t rough, but it was firm—purposeful.

"Hey, what—?" Florian started, but the question died in his throat as Heinz barely spared him a glance before leading him away.

’What the fuck is he doing?’

Heinz had been acting strangely for a while now, and it was starting to set Florian on edge. There had always been an air of mystery about the man, a certain unreadable nature that made it difficult to predict his thoughts, but this? This was something else entirely.

The teasing, the way he was putting him on edge—it wasn’t like him. And then there was the way he had said, "Don’t go anywhere without me." earlier.

Florian frowned. ’What does he know that I don’t?’

Before he could say anything else, he realized where they were heading. The broken-down, dirty excuse for a house they were staying in loomed ahead, a sight that made Florian inwardly groan.

’Right. As if today couldn’t get any worse.’

Heinz pulled him inside, and the moment they stepped in, a familiar croak greeted them.

Florian barely had time to react before Azure, the small, lizard-like blue dragon, flapped his tiny wings and launched himself at him.

"Whoa—!" Florian instinctively caught him, stumbling back a step as Azure coiled around his arms, his small body vibrating with happiness. The dragon let out another pleased croak, nuzzling into his chest.

Florian blinked, still unused to the fact that Heinz’s dragon liked him this much. He glanced up, half-expecting Heinz to look amused or at least interested in the interaction—but Heinz didn’t even seem fazed.

’Of course he isn’t. He’s never surprised by anything, is he?’

Shaking his head, Florian hugged Azure back, letting the little creature settle comfortably in his arms. "Missed me, huh?"

Azure chirped in response, tail curling around his wrist.

Meanwhile, Heinz had already walked ahead, unbothered, and dropped onto their makeshift bed on the ground. With a tired sigh, he took off his disguise glasses and tossed them onto the floor beside him.

Florian followed suit, adjusting Azure in his arms as he reached up to remove his own appearance-changing glasses. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling before finally speaking.

"Alright, are you going to tell me what that was all about?" He shot Heinz a look. "Why did you question Leila like that? And why did you follow me out?"

Heinz leaned back slightly, red eyes sharp even in the dim lighting of the room. He studied Florian for a long moment before answering, his voice as calm as ever.

"Dropping the honorifics and speaking casually now, are we?"

Florian narrowed his eyes. "I feel like I earned it, Your Majesty."

Heinz laughs, crossing his arms against his chest. "To answer one of your questions, I followed you out because, if you hadn’t noticed, this village is not safe and you stormed out."

Well, he had a point.

But...

"What about the first question then?" Florian asked. "Why did you interrogate Leila like that? You are aware if we don’t help her, we will stay here longer than you prefer."

"I already planned for the chances of us staying here longer than anticipated." Heinz said then tilted his head a bit. "And for your question, I think you already know the answer."

"What?"

Heinz lets out a sigh. "You do not want to admit it out of guilt for that Levi fellow, but that girl is suspicious. Not just her, this village is quite suspicious and it’s not just because I, as you said, neglected it. Something about them is suspicious, and I know you know it’s tied to that storage unit."

Again, Heinz was right.

Florian, whether he wanted to admit it or not, had been feeling bad vibes about the village from the beginning, and Leila...as much as he hated it, was very much suspicious.

Heinz basically saw right through Florian.

But it was only because he was afraid Heinz might force him to go back to the palace once something went wrong.

Azure tilts his head, seeing Florian’s change of expression.

Florian sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Alright. Fine. You’re right. But only because I was concerned."

Heinz didn’t look smug about it, which somehow made it worse. If he had been, Florian could’ve just brushed it off as another one of his usual games. Instead, Heinz simply nodded, like he had already expected Florian to say that.

Florian shifted Azure in his arms. "Did you also smell that awful stench from the storage unit?"

Heinz blinked at him, expression blank. "No."

Florian stilled. "Wait—what?"

"You heard me. I didn’t smell anything." Heinz tilted his head slightly, watching Florian carefully. "But you did."

Florian’s mouth opened, then closed. His brows furrowed as he thought back to it—the sickly, rotting smell that had hit him the second he cracked the door open. He had assumed Heinz smelled it too, but if he didn’t...

"Then why were you suspicious of the storage unit?" Florian asked.

Heinz exhaled, stretching his legs out. "Do you know how magic works in Concordia?"

Florian hesitated. "I have some ideas."

"Then you should know that some spells only work on Concordians, while others affect non-Concordians too," Heinz explained smoothly. "Offensive magic, for example, works on both. A fireball doesn’t care where you’re from. But magic that alters the senses—like concealing something, or dulling smells—often doesn’t work on non-Concordians."

Florian felt his stomach drop. "Wait, so you’re saying..."

"There’s a good chance that storage unit is enchanted to block its stench—but only for Concordians." Heinz gave him a pointed look. "Which means whatever’s inside, someone didn’t want the people here to notice it."

A chill ran down Florian’s spine. His arms unconsciously tightened around Azure. ’That means whoever placed that spell didn’t care if an outsider noticed—because there were no outsiders supposed to be here in the first place.’

His voice came out quieter than he intended. "What... does that mean?"

Heinz hummed, gaze flickering toward him. "You tell me. You opened the door, didn’t you? What did you see inside?"

Florian swallowed. "I couldn’t see much. It was too dark. And before I could get a proper look, Leila showed up."

Heinz leaned back against the wall, eyes half-lidded. "Exactly."

Florian stared at him, heartbeat picking up. "You think she—"

"I think," Heinz interrupted, tone casual but his gaze sharp, "that her timing was a little too perfect."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.